Watch The Sky
by Stormy Feathers
Summary: Naruko Uzumaki isn't stupid. She knows that if the village learns about her summons- or the abilities they've given her- she'll become even more of a weapon than she already is. Besides, they don't respect her intelligence anyways. Might as well play the loveable idiot- not like her summons can't cover for her! Not mostly serious, but it does have some moments.
1. Prologue: Summoned

**Edited first chapter. Figured I needed to maintain some semblance of normality.**

* * *

Prologue: Summoned

Naruko Uzumaki, while she had many faults, was actually a rather smart child.

Not only that, but she had a rather rare gift- a nearly perfect memory. In fact, later on, some of her students would call her the "Elephant Matriarch" for her uncanny knack to simply _remember_.

In addition, she would unconsciously catalog even the smallest details, making her margin for error the smallest out of any before her.

However, this was not always prevalent. Even so, if Naruko's teachers hadn't been out for her since the beginning, she would have passed at the top of her class.

Things began to change, originally, when Naruko was about five years old.

* * *

Being the container for a giant fox demon (even though she didn't know it), she had quite a bit of chakra. Therefore, when she saw a woman performing a cool jutsu and an animal- a _talking_ animal- appeared, she knew she would try it.

She performed the jutsu perfectly- and promptly fell on her rear from the chakra drain.

Naruko was then eye-level with a pair of shins covered in golden armor. She followed said shins upwards, and gulped.

Gilgamesh looked down dispassionately at the little thing that had somehow summoned him. Casting bright red eyes to the side, he noted with slight surprise that the Faker (Archer Emiya, "King" of Fakers) and the Annoyance (Ariel "Cheshire" Lehnsherr, "King" of Champions, and Champion of Wanderers) were there as well.

Something in him drew his eyes back to the child, who seemed far too scared for someone that young. So, Gilgamesh did something that his old self- before he regained Enkidu- would have recoiled at.

He smiled, and picked the young child up, holding her to his chest.

The tiny thing weighed about as much as a toddler!

Later that day, a contract would be signed in blood, but for now, little Naruko just relished in the feeling of being held, as the three Heroic spirits passed the tiny kid around to each other, and the smallest of the trio, (Cheshire, at 5'5" and barely 125 pounds soaking wet, was undoubtedly that), vowed to make sure Naruko didn't face the reality of being short for her whole life (in vain).

* * *

Several days later, and Naruko had made a point to summon many of the other Heroic Spirits. Out of all that grew attached to the tiny girl, the most important cases were the several Boss summons, who were quite enamored with her.

Nobody knew why- or how- Naruko had been able to summon them, they were just glad she had done so.

The next day, a more confident Naruko waltzed into the Academy.

As the years went by and it was apparent that the group of teachers there wanted to sabotage her, she stopped trying nearly as hard.

Afterwards, she started getting the moniker of "idiot".

Late at night, she would usually summon Cheshire. The mutant's gifts had begun to bleed over to his summoner over time- resulting in quite the interesting group of abilities. Why? Cheshire would keep it a secret, but it was with the help of a certain troll.

So Naruko, with her newfound friends, began to flourish.

* * *

Several years later, when she finally passed the exam, it took her all of a day to realize that she had gotten far better training from her Aniki. Cheshire was all too happy to provide chakra control and meditation exercises for the small slip of a blonde.

Later on, Naruto would realize that Cheshire's recognition of her as a younger sibling had opened her up to coddling by a pair of European men- a dark blonde Ferro-kinetic, and a telepath that was almost a dead ringer for Ari when it came to coloration. By then, it was too late, and she resigned herself to being something of an extra child for the pair. She would complain to Credence on occasion when they were in meditation lessons together. However, that would not occur for several years' time. By then, Naruto was a godmother to a brunette archery prodigy.

* * *

She waltzed into the training ground where she was supposed to meet Mizuki (the idiot traitor had tried to get her to steal the Forbidden Scroll- well, the joke was on him, she'd tipped the ANBU off about it (or at least, the ones she could trust to not tell anyone about her summons) and had even summoned Gilgamesh- the older blonde was perfectly happy to help the much smaller one now. At least, he would terrify Mizuki.), agitated and ready for a fight.

Iruka, however, intervened.

"Filthy little demon bitch! That fucking Fox you hold must be helping you!" Mizuki screamed when she threw a small explosive at him. Iruka froze, looking at Naruko.

"Well, idiot, you slipped up. The Fox is an S-Class secret. Now, I _would_ let the ANBU take you in for questioning, normally, but one of my Summons is very much unhappy with you for sabotaging my education. Gil, as long as he's alive enough to answer questions for the T and I department, I don't care what happens to him. By the way, Iruka?" the brunette nodded, staring open-mouthed at his young blonde student.

"Yes?" he asked.

"We should probably leave. I'm not stupid enough to be around Gilgamesh when he's mad. Or, at least, have _you_ be around him when he's mad for _my_ sake." Naruko stated calmly.

"Naruko?" the teacher called; still in shock that the preteen he knew could be cold like this.

"Yeah, sensei?" she hummed quietly, eyes darting towards a cluster of trees on the left side.

"Who is Gilgamesh?" he asked quietly.

"You should ask him, he's right behind you, after all."

Iruka froze for the second time that night, slowly turning his head. A hand encased in golden armor stopped him.

"Naruko, why don't you get this nice man out of the blast zone while I maul the filthy mongrel that thought he could mess with my summoner's education and get out scot-free?" the tall blonde advised. Several ANBU (most notably Serval, who had, next to Hound and Weasel, had grown the closest to the kid over the years) stayed, as their actions had led them to be safe from Gil. They were the ones that Knew, and Anole, Serval, and Squirrel were pleased with that development.

* * *

Naruko decided to ignore the screaming as she led Iruka out of the training grounds.

Iruka continued to stare at his student, not noticing the bluenette slowly creeping up next to him.

"Cuil, if you're about to do what I think you're about to do, put the kami-damned spear down. Iruka should not be whapped in the head with a demonic spear of legend. That's an insult to both Iruka _and_ Gae Bolg, and you know it." Iruka turned to see a sheepish man with wine red eyes and long blue hair. Naruko waltzed over to the man and slapped him upside the head.

"Sorry about Cu Chulainn, he's not exactly the most mature of spirits." Naruko hummed. Said blue haired spirit grinned, tossing Naruko over his shoulder.

"OI! If you're gonna do that, watch the goddamn weapon you idiot!" Iruka couldn't help it.

He broke down laughing.

Naruko watched him with an expression of pure betrayal on her young face, while the blue haired spirit simply laughed and put the tiny little blonde back down on the ground.

"I guess you didn't wanna be back there while Gil did his thing? You know the guy wouldn't hurt you, you're practically his niece or daughter." Lancer hummed to the young girl.

The cold demeanor fell immediately, and Naruko slumped.

"Yeah... I know. I just... I guess there's a few things that I'd like to go a few more years before having to see." Naruko muttered quietly.

"Did you learn anything useful from the scroll, at least?" Lancer asked. At this, Naruko perked.

"Well, first off, I learned about a really cool jutsu called the Light Screamer, I think that might be the best way to copy Ani's lightsaber..."

* * *

 **I have edited this first chapter to hammer home the fact that almost nobody knows about Naruko's summons, a fact that I neglected to mention earlier. My apologies.**


	2. Chapter One: Why Cheshire Is Big Brother

**Oh my god, thank you!**

 **I never expected this to gain this much traction so fast- thank you again!**

 **Secondary clue from last chapter question- Lightsabers.**

 **Here is Chapter One/Two**

* * *

Chapter One: Why Cheshire Is Big Brother

Cheshire, for all intents and purposes, was not usually a very serious man. In fact, he was usually the epitome of a jokester. However, the inclusion of two summoners into his life- previously, a redhead, and now, a blonde who could call upon any of them- forced him to grow up a bit.

He'd already been capable of moments of maturity- after all, he _was_ a Guardian spirit, which required more than one instance of protecting others- but now, he was a bit better off.

And yes, he noted the internal monologue in his head, thank you very much. And he would like to mention the fact that Gilgamesh was a complete and utter sap when it came to kids. Blackmail!

* * *

Ariel Lehnsherr, nickname Cheshire, grinned from his spot in the corner of the classroom. When he was astralized, he could keep track of all of the kids without having to bother with intentionally going invisible. While he did love his particular manner of invisibility, it was tiring.

Plus, astralization was much easier for Naruko to deal with in terms of chakra drain.

Chesh knew that Naruko's chakra reserves were insane- even when one didn't take into account the Fox. She could spam shadow clones like no tomorrow, which was useful for training. They didn't have very many shinobi in the Throne of Heroes, but the few they did have said that Naruko was probably the fastest developing child that they'd met. Unfortunately, none of them could train the girl without tipping off those that lived in Leaf. And yet, it was still noticeably easier for her to not give them a physical body- even when just Summons.

Cheshire made a mental note to ask Velvet about power conversion later on- out of all of the Magi he knew, Iskander's former Master was probably the wisest choice for questions.

After all, if the man was a fucking _teacher_ , he should know his _subject._

Cheshire, however, began to falter in his maniacal energy. The mutant could not _always_ keep up his ridiculous energy level, and eating in the classroom would mean the jig was up. Besides, he didn't want to leave his little summoner alone for more than a few minutes.

He remembered the _last_ time he'd left Naruko alone to get food.

* * *

 _Cheshire heard the high-pitched scream, and immediately dropped his groceries._

 _While it didn't sound like Naruko, it_ did _sound like something had happened, so he panicked._

 _He found Naruko running from an ANBU (specifically Lizard) who had somehow been covered in glue and feathers in the ten minutes that he'd been gone. Cheshire let out a groan._

 _However, he sighed, and grabbed his little summoner, jumping high enough to avoid the swipe of Lizard. Hopefully, Serval would show up and be able to help him get his seven year old brat to Hound's apartment, and therefore out of danger. Maybe she could calm down her fellow ANBU._

 _Cheshire sighed again, deciding to take a different route this time. Maybe him and his genius and idiot of a summoner could get help from the Nara- it wasn't like Hound could always help._

 _That day, Shikaku Nara learned of the Heroic Spirit summons, and agreed to temporarily shelter his little summoner. At least it was the only girl in his son's class that Shikamaru could stand._

 _Besides, Naru could help his son get over his fear of "cooties"._

* * *

The only good thing that one could say about Wade Wilson that couldn't also be phrased as an insult would probably be the fact that at least he wasn't boring.

Therefore, he was little Naru's go to choice for prank assistance. He was proud of this fact.

He was _especially_ proud of the glue and feathers prank on Lizard all of those years ago.

He was also proud of the fact that, aside from the obvious group, he was one of Naru's favorite summons. Usually, his face would scare a little kid like her away in seconds.

However, little Naruko Uzumaki just smiled, pointed to her whisker marks, and said, "we're both weird!" Wade Winston Wilson had, admittedly, never felt that genuinely normal-happy before.

Wade had always been a little screwed up in the head, but he liked kids. In the _normal_ way, thank you very much. He liked making sure they were happy. Hey, even Smaug had a soft spot.

Speaking of which, said Dragon had immediately, upon meeting Naruko, declared that the girl's hair was the color of gold, and therefore swore his allegiance to the little treasure.

Needless to say, later on, Wilson and the others had called him on his bullshit, and Smaug had reluctantly admitted that the little girl's gentle demeanor had been the selling point for him.

The last that had talked to him in that way had been Bilbo Baggins, who, despite stealing part of his hoard, had provided Smaug's first intelligent conversation in decades, and therefore would not be killed on sight if Smaug saw him again. The tiny Assassin that crept out from behind Iskander was unexpected, but Smaug held to his word, and now the two were close friends.

It helped that Bilbo had smuggled one of his dragonets out of Erebor. Little Skadi was a strong young Storm Drake, and Smaug was proud to see his daughter's accomplishments, even if she had befriended a conglomerate of women from the Races of Middle Earth. One of the Archer classes began laughing her ass off when they realized that, since the leader's name was Artemis (apparently a fluke, according to Bilbo), the girls were therefore the Huntresses of Artemis.

Zoë knew that the fluke wasn't quite that funny, but what were the chances of that happening?

* * *

That particular day had ended with everyone except for a select few _extremely_ confused.

The most confused of them being their little blonde summoner.

The girl in question was sitting on one of the desks in the classroom, waiting for her team assignment to be called. She almost started dozing on her friend Shikamaru (whom she was hoping to all above would be on her team), but barely managed to refrain from doing so.

After all, she wanted to make the best impression possible for her teammates!

Shikamaru, however, was just ignoring this, and snoozing on Naruko was comfy, anyways.

She was _always_ warm, thanks to that ridiculous jumpsuit of hers, and therefore could spare heat.

It was, thankfully, recognized as one friend simply letting the other stay warm, after a day at the Academy during winter when the heating failed. Naruko was the warmest person, and therefore was moved around like a hot water bottle for the few hours before they were released.

Shikamaru followed his blonde friend (because Ino, that ridiculous fangirl, was NOT his friend, dammit) around town when he had to be outside for the bitterly cold day that followed, before realizing that Naruko's home didn't have proper heating, and then _dragging_ her to the Nara compound, where she would be warm. His mother approved of this action. So did his father.

Naruko, while she was good at keeping warm, would have had serious trouble, since the cold spell lasted an entire month, and her tiny apartment didn't have enough blankets for that.

* * *

That day, Shikamaru Nara met Ariel "Cheshire" Lehnsherr. Who... seemed happy with him?

The mentioned mutant was now watching Shikamaru and his blonde summoner interact with a sense of relaxation. He knew that Shika would try to keep people away from his warm body pillow, and therefore Naruko wouldn't have to deal with Sasuke. Unfortunately...

Cheshire groaned as he motioned for Naruko to grab one of the ceiling lights, and hang on with all her might until Iruka could come back into the room. The fangirls circled like hungry sharks below, out for his itty-bitty summoner's blood. Cheshire plopped down next to Shikamaru.

"These fangirls are damn troublesome." he huffed, laying back and looking at the ceiling.

Shikamaru winced and nodded. At least he'd been in Sasuke's class, so he didn't have any of his own. And even if he had, they probably would have jumped ship over to Naruko.

The only case of a Naruko fangirl had been Hinata, though. Shikamaru wondered if her father knew that his eldest daughter was at the very least bisexual, if not completely lesbian.

Although, if he had to pick a girl other than Naru to be on his team, it would be her, since at least with her bloodline, Hinata Hyuuga would not be as useless as the rest of the fangirls.

He still knew he would have to put up with Ino, though, because for some reason, the village was obsessed with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Despite the fact that the only one of the other two he could put up with was Chouji. Both he and the Akamichi desperately wanted to switch blondes.

Naruko Uzumaki sighed and slowly slipped down from the light when Iruka re-entered the room. She earned more than a few glares from the other girls, but simply ignored them and sat down next to Shikamaru again. She heard Sasuke's occasional grunts and Sakura and Ino's squeals loud and clear, but chose to ignore them with the ease of practice. Putting her hands under the table, she made the hand signs she would need to summon Bilbo in his Assassin class form.

The small Hobbit looked around the classroom, catching the eye of the floating Cheshire, who shot him a grin. Bilbo sighed, knowing this would be a headache, and sat down next to Naruko.

At least, next to Shikamaru, with complete acknowledgement that it had been an accident, she was somewhat safe. They may have been idiots, but they weren't stupid enough to attack Shika.

* * *

When the teams were announced, it took all she had for Naruko to not immediately shove her face into the wooden table. She'd known that sometime her luck would run out.

Not only that, but she had to deal with the Emo Bastard (who, after careful study, was either a late bloomer or in the closet) and the Pink Harpy (who would follow the Emo to her grave)- the two that she had begged Kami to not be put with. She hoped to all above that their sensei would be at least half-decent teacher, despite whatever issues, but she felt like she was beyond hope now.

 _"Looks like you got Lancer's bad luck, motek."_ Naruko wanted to whip around and hug Chesh, but she knew that it wasn't the best idea to show that there were summons there at the moment.

She knew that at least Hinata and Shikamaru (the latter mainly because he knew they were there, and the former because she had sensed them) wouldn't react, but the rest would think her crazy.

* * *

Naruko sighed as she left for lunch, hearing Sasuke turn down Sakura again. She itched to jump up in the air and fly somewhere, but on such a clear day, she couldn't shift into something large without being noticed, and if she were noticed in a smaller form, it would be game over.

"Hey, Sakura? I was thinking, since we're teammates and all, we could grab food, maybe trade stories, and hope and pray to get a good sensei?" Naruko offered, to Sakura's clear disgust.

"Why would I want to eat lunch with someone like you? Naruko, let's get one thing straight. You're annoying." Sakura growled flatly. Naruko inhaled once, staring her down.

"Let's make something _perfectly clear,_ Sakura. I may be annoying, but at least I'm nice. Do you _really_ want to be an enemy of your teammate? No? Good. Now, let's go get Teme and have lunch as a group of three, because we're going to have to get him to work with us eventually if we want to survive." she barked, beginning to walk in the direction that Sasuke had gone. Sakura followed.

"Um... Naruko?" Sakura asked, getting said blonde's head to turn in the pinkette's direction.

"You have my attention, what is it you wanted to say?" Naruko hummed quietly, stopping.

"Can we just... get food? I don't want to bother Sasuke again..." Sakura whispered quietly.

"Follow me." Naruko called, immediately turning the other direction- towards the main village.

* * *

Naruko waltzed into the forest easily after she and Sakura parted ways. She would have mentioned how little the girl was eating, but she really didn't want to hit a nerve, and she had a feeling that would do so. It reminded her of something that a friend of Chesh's- Ria- mentioned.

Anorexia. Attempt to become thinner by eating as little as possible. Right now, with Sakura, it was simply a rigid diet plan, but if she became a full-on anorexic, she would tell their sensei.

Naruto sighed, looking in the direction of the rest of the village. She knew that the team had a problem. The root would be Sasuke. That boy needed to learn some manners, fast.

"Wade! We're going to need bottles of Silly String, The Scarf, and the glitter gun!" she barked.

"You got it, boss! Is it okay if I bring the rainbow silly string?" Deadpool called.

* * *

"So. Teme. You, boy, are going to _apologize_ to Sakura. Just because you think she's annoying, or because you feel so high-and-mighty, gives you no right to talk to her like that." Naruko hissed, glaring at the boy who was now trussed up on the floor of his own living room. She giggled.

"What's so funny?" he spit, glaring at the blonde who was now holding her stomach.

"Nothing... well, it's just that you always seemed to think you were the best, but I was able to knock you out and tie you up in less than five minutes!" she yelped, more than just amused.

"You tied me up... because you thought I was too self-centered?" Sasuke asked, now just curious.

"Well, and because you treated another human being like dirt. If you'd talked like that to Hinata, your blood would probably be on the floor right now." Naruko hummed, snapping the bindings.

"...Hn." Sasuke muttered, staring at the deceptively simple gathering of ropes.

"I can teach you, if you want. Just... try to be nicer, okay? Teamwork, along with our sensei, is probably what's going to keep up alive for the next few months, especially once we get our first C-ranks, and I can't deal with you two if you're going to try to kill me." Naruko muttered.

"Actually... I was thinking, maybe you tell me how you got into ANBU headquarters in nothing but bright, kill-me orange?" Naruko grinned. Things were looking up!

"Well, I first learned how to sneak places in obvious clothing from this guy named Oliver..."

* * *

.

 **And, there we have it, folks!**

 **(Also, who should I pair Naruko with? I don't actually know...)**


	3. Chapter Two: Smaug Needs a Break

**Dear Deepspob-**

 **Yes, you guessed Chapter Two correctly, it was Oliver Queen (AKA Green Arrow) that I had mentioned.**

 **And for Chapter One- Anakin Skywalker!**

Chapter Two: Smaug Needs A Break (And So Does Stephen)

* * *

Smaug had known from the minute Bilbo had shown up that the rest of the little hobbit's Company was probably lurking somewhere around there. Bilbo, however, was of the opinion that if he were going to talk to any of them, it would be Balin, Fili, or Kili, since Thorin hated Smaug.

The small Hobbit was now rather attached to the large dragon, since their word-games went over the head of all but the smartest of Servants. Smaug, as a Berserker, couldn't usually find smart Spirits easily, and even while Bilbo was an Assassin, they still rarely liked games of riddles.

The only others they could find that regularly enjoyed their games of riddles were an Explorer class by the name of Indiana Jones (a fine fellow, if a bit agitating at times), a Rider class by the name of Odysseus (who was more than fed up with his fellow hero, Achilles), and an Assassin-Technical subclass by the name of Q, or Quentin (who was pretty sure he was the only one who could count in that sector. However, apparently, to get James Bond, you had to drag along Q, because the bastard was apparently hopeless without his gadgets. Therefore, Assassin-Tech.)

While many of the others could do riddles, it seemed to be only them that actually enjoyed what they were doing. Well, them and a few others, but several of the rest of the number were creepy.

* * *

Odysseus knew, from the moment that the Heroic Spirit Summoning Contract had finally been acquired, that he would like his summoner. She was a fiery little girl with a mind as sharp as his.

He just thanked all above that they were now Summons, which meant that he could be snagged to kick Achilles into line if little Naru required the thick-skinned idiot for something or another.

He noticed Maia Maximoff's curious stare. The speedster knew he was thinking about something.

"I have a question for you." Maia's attention was fully on Odysseus now. She grinned.

"Yeah? What do ya wanna ask?" she barked out, sliding off of the living room table.

"Well, it's two questions. First- why are we all in our own houses in a big compound? I mean I know we're some of the only human-like summons, but wouldn't it make more sense for each Servant class to have their own home? I know you Speedsters do, and I know the Explorer, Guardian, and Healer classes all mainly keep to the same home, but us Rider classes are split up."

Maia seemed to think this over for a few seconds (although it was probably longer for her).

"It's because, while there are maybe, at most, five to ten Speedster spirits, even when you count Namikaze who's pretty much never here thanks to that seal, and only a handful of Guardian and Healer spirits, the amount of Assassins and Riders is actually quite high, so you either get a huge house that wouldn't be able to sustain itself, or you split up into smaller houses with a few in each. At least, that makes sense to me." Odysseus hummed quietly as Maia slid onto the floor.

"And the second question? I know you have one, Odyssey." she grinned, poking his head.

"Second question would be... why give her speed?" Odysseus asked the young speedster.

"She was going to gain it eventually. You know who her pops is. However, this somewhat... expands upon that." Maia hummed, before flashing over to the door to grab her coat.

"You keep an eye on Achilles, okay?" she called, before zipping out the large doors.

Odysseus sighed. Maia, while she was a bit on the young side for a Heroic Spirit, was one of the smarter ones. He trusted that she'd made the right decision in giving little Naru her speed.

Maia Maximoff, or Shockwave, was quite possibly one of the smartest Heroic Spirits their Summoning Contract had to offer. Shame she didn't like riddles, though.

* * *

Naruko Uzumaki noted, with some discomfort, that the slight progress she'd made with Sakura and Sasuke had been eradicated overnight. At least the teme had begun to respect her more.

She almost jumped for joy when her nose detected the familiar scent of Hound on the man who would be their jounin sensei. Then she felt immediately guilty for the chalk duster prank.

"From what the ANBU scream about you, I was expecting a prank, but you could have at least done something a bit more original." the jounin muttered, but clearly noted her recognition.

Naruko had a feeling that he wouldn't have mentioned the pranks if she hadn't recognized him.

"My first impression of all of you, however... is that you're idiots." Naruko promptly shoved her face into her palm, as her two teammates started loudly accusing her of the idiocy.

"Meet me on the roof in five minutes. If you're late, I'll know." the man popped away.

Naruko knew that if she put enough distance between herself and the other two, she could either bolt up the stairs with her true speed (Which was what her sensei would not expect, and would blow her big secret out of the water), or wall-walk the rest of the way up (which, while still not expected, would make more sense to her sensei). However, Naru wanted to run.

* * *

Maia watched the little hellion with a grin on her face. Unbeknownst to all but her fellow Speedsters (and even then, only known to Jesse, Wally, Bart, and a kid named Dash Parr), she'd not given Naruko the ability to work with the speed force because it was _useful_.

Oh, no. Maia Maximoff had given Naruko Uzumaki the speed force for shits and giggles.

Well, she'd asked Barry to. Her overly nice fellow speedster had been perfectly happy to assist her in gifting their summoner with the Speed Force. She wondered if he would take her seriously if he knew that it was an alternate female version of him that had been her other parent.

However, the uncomfortable way that her dad danced around Barry was wonderful to watch.

Maia yawned when Wally finally came back to the Speedster house. The other speedster had a bowl of popcorn (nabbed from Assassin Quarters No. 3) and a rather tired Q with him.

The Assassin-Technical seemed to be bored enough, though, so Maia stopped the viewing pod, texted Iskander to keep an eye on the kid, and turned on a sufficiently entertaining movie.

Q spent the rest of the movie squished between two speedsters and a healer.

* * *

Back in the real world, Naruko managed to look sufficiently exhausted from the speed she was running at. She also paused for a minute, making it look like she had taken far longer.

Sakura and Sasuke were still on flight three of the stairwell when she made it to the roof.

Naruko immediately sat down on the step once she got out onto the roof.

Sakura and Sasuke seemed to be in shock at how quickly their teammate had gotten there, but Naruko had already checked out, and was now studying the village from this new vantage point.

"You will each mention your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams," their sensei intoned.

"Can you go first? Not just to see how it goes, but so you can introduce yourself as well?" Naruko asked, bright blue eyes checking for any signs that their relaxed teacher had heard her.

"Alright, then. My name is Kakashi Hatake, my likes and dislikes are none of your business, my hobbies... well, I have many hobbies. And I have a dream. Blondie, you next." he hummed.

"My name is Naruko Uzumaki! I like being able to sleep without being bothered by drunks, reading, animals, ramen, and gardening! I _dislike_ when people judge others without knowing them, when people are assholes to each other for no reason, and anyone who can't crack open a proper book to save their life! Oh, and traitors too, I guess. My dream is either to become Hokage or a Sage, so I'll be respected and I can protect the people I care about." She'd edited out her summons, but otherwise had been honest to the other members of her team. She grinned.

"Pinky, you go next." Kakashi told Sakura, who nodded. Naruko felt like groaning.

"Well, my name is Sakura Haruno, I like..." she giggled, looking at Sasuke, "My dreams for the future are..." again, she giggled at Sasuke, "And I hate... Naruko!" she yelled at the blonde.

"If you stop yelling I'll stop being loud, yeah?" Naruko muttered quietly, pulling out a book.

The book in question happened to be the Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Not that he existed in her world, but Smaug and Bilbo had enjoyed the fictional version of their lives in _The Hobbit_ , so Naruko figured she would try the rest. She'd fallen in love with the books.

She kept her ears open for Sasuke's introduction, but otherwise, kept herself attuned to the book.

"My name... is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't like many things. I dislike a great many more things. My dreams, although they WILL be my future, are to restore my clan and kill a certain man." Naruko looked over from where she was reading of Tom Bombadill and gave him a raised eyebrow.

"What?" he spat, glaring at her - the girl who thought she could one-up _him_? Naruto just grinned.

"No-thing~!" she chirped, going back to her book with a smile on her face. Sasuke growled.

"Well, aside from the fact that you've been stealing my tomatoes for the past month. I know it was you. I had a stakeout on the roof. Stop stealing my damn tomatoes, teme." she bit, grinning when he went bright red for a few seconds. She would enjoy ruffling this boy's feathers.

"Those were yours?" he finally asked weakly. She grinned at him for a few seconds.

"Yes. Be honest and just ask next time, all right? I like giving people food, so it's no problem!" she chirped, managing to divert attention from her previously rather mature demeanor.

She sighed when Kakashi mentioned the second test- and where they would be meeting, thankfully. She'd heard about the "bell test" before, and how it was a teamwork examination, from a few of the failed hopefuls. Although, that had only been mentioned a few times before.

She figured she would have to grab at least one bell first to secure herself, since it was obvious that the other two didn't like her. Or maybe grab both and give them both to her team, since that would make it obvious that she was willing to work with the two of them? She chose that one.

She wished she could have taken the time to read Kakashi's mind, but she couldn't risk it.

After all, the man was a jounin, and would have probably had experiences of that sort.

She couldn't tip anyone off about her telepathy, or she would be a baby maker in no time flat.

Probably paired up with a Yamanaka or the teme to "increase their jutsu power".

* * *

The blonde ignored her sensei's warnings, and grabbed breakfast anyways. After asking around about their teacher, she knew he was going to be late, so she grabbed more food for all of them.

Knowing that the other two were probably already there, she finally left her small apartment.

She also ignored the few drunks still milling about this early in the morning. They'd been sufficiently scared off from trying to attack her the last time that one of her Summons had come to her aid. She knew that they might try something, but that was a small possibility.

Naruko was, quite obviously, the last one there, aside from her sensei. She grinned at the others.

"I heard that Kakashi Hatake was chronically late, so I figured, since we're going to obviously have enough time to digest, that I'd get you two some breakfast." she hummed towards them.

"And yes, teme, I got you tomatoes. No need to worship me." she chirped, grinning at the glare.

* * *

Stephen Strange grinned at the mess that Naruko was making of the traditional timeline.

The doctor slash sorcerer had been recruited by the Kid Patrol (Naruko's favorite summons) with little resistance. Despite being snagged while alive, he could usually spare a little time out of his day for the kid, who had managed to snag the hearts of her Summons, with few exceptions.

Even Smaug liked the kid, and Smaug rarely ever liked anyone.

All of them that held a soft spot for children had grown to be a surrogate family for her.

Stephen himself couldn't stop himself from hovering over her like an overprotective father.

He hoped that Namikaze would be able to be summoned at some point in the future- according to the Speedster spirits; Naruko's father was one of their number.

He really wanted to give the man a piece of his mind. Who on Earth left their daughter in a situation like that without pulling up several stipulations?

Stephen grinned and silently began floating down to the ground, dispelling the Mirror Dimension as he went. At least the invisibility thing that Cheshire was on worked perfectly.

He watched the kids interact, wincing every time that one of them bit into Naruko.

Stephen, while he was not a father, was quite good with kids, and was considered the biggest mother hen among sorcerers.

As such, the brunet winced at every dig to his blonde charge.

Unfortunately, he could not intervene on her behalf, as that would tip off the villagers, and more importantly, the shinobi.

Stephen didn't want anyone getting his or her grubby hands on the Heroic Spirit contract without direct approval from the Boss (George) himself.

Said Rider class was a rather good judge of character, and his younger friend (whom Hela, one of the Reaper classes, had snagged from the afterlife a few times) was instrumental in instilling little Naruto with the most insane work ethic and love for writing that he'd ever seen.

That guy looked far, far too happy when he'd learned of the Shadow Clone. Stephen Strange was not sure if that was something he should have been worried about.

Hey, it wasn't like, with her stamina, that she could work herself to death, right?

Right?

Right?!

* * *

.

 **See if you can guess who George and his friend with the crazy work ethic are!**

 **Reviews let me know your honest opinion on the story!**


	4. Chapter Three: Kakashi Loves Muffins

**I am re-publishing this chapter due to the fact that I edited several sections.**

* * *

Chapter Three: Kakashi Loves Muffins

Naruko Uzumaki knew that Stephen was somewhere around there- she'd seen one of the 'holes' his sling ring had opened- she just didn't know where in particular the sorcerer was.

She knew that the American was usually the one in charge of babysitting duty when her usual patrol was off doing something. However, he was an excellent teacher, especially when it came to science. Naruko soaked up the information like a little sponge, which only encouraged him.

However, if push came to shove, she would use this test to summon Bilbo, since the hobbit could firstly go invisible (which she could copy as well, thanks to Cheshire), and secondly, was quite good at nicking things. At the very least, they could get one bell, if not two.

* * *

Sasuke was happily munching on the tomatoes she'd brought, while Sakura looked on in shock.

Naruko simply grinned at the pink haired girl and went back to her book.

After another hour and a half, Kakashi had finally arrived. She ignored the man's excuse.

"Do you want breakfast, Kakashi-sensei?" she asked, holding out one of the muffins.

 _'HOLY SHIT! The brat brought muffins!'_ Kakashi barely managed to restrain himself from grabbing the large muffin that the kid was offering him immediately.

"I'll eat it at lunch, alright? Speaking of lunch, your test is..." and Kakashi watched the faces of two of his little genin pale, before something absolutely incredible happened for a moment.

"If I get you a bell, you get me more tomatoes. Yeah?" Sasuke asked Naruko, who grinned.

"Hey, what about me?" Sakura whined. Naruko turned to her, and motioned movement.

"Well, maybe if we give him a hard enough time, he'll pass all three of us!" she yelled.

Kakashi's mouth could have dropped in that one instant. He knew that his sensei's daughter had been a friendly child, but he'd heard from Iruka that she greatly disliked her two teammates.

Not only that, but somehow, by tomatoes, Naruko had managed to get a hold of the Avenger brat.

So Kakashi learned, in that instant, that Naruko's survival instinct was completely insane.

* * *

Vulpecula Frostwind was not your typical Jedi. Oh no, not even a little bit.

"Frostwind" was a name she'd _earned,_ thanks to her affinity with Ice, and her calm demeanor.

It was that calm form of power that had earned her spot in the Jedi Order, and allowed her to keep her head during Order 66. She'd grit her teeth, flared her willpower, and regained control of her unit.

Well, enough to leave them quite confused as she ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

Which it turned out, had been quite fast. Her legs had always been longer than average.

She'd managed to get a handful of younglings, more than a few lightsabers, a bucket full of kyber crystals, and the entirety of the Order's library out of the Temple thanks to her speed.

It had taken a Death Star and a clone army to finally end her for good. She was good at hiding.

She was also good at childcare, although not really of her own volition. That was why she was usually paired with Stephen Strange- they made the best pair when watching Naruko.

One to dispatch of any threats to their summoner, since Stephen hated killing, and one to heal anyone who'd gotten hurt, since Vex was not really good at many forms of medicine.

She understood Stephen's reluctance to kill- she'd seen it with the other Healer classes. Those that reached the level of a Heroic Spirit with a pure _talent_ in medicine were somewhat gentle souls.

Even the sharp, fire-manipulating Fenrir Jacobi hesitated when it was time to land a killing blow.

The Saber-class summon felt that she would like her position in helping the Healer summons.

They were quite nice people, after all. She didn't mind their quirks much.

* * *

Naruko felt the temperature drop around the training grounds. She knew, in that moment, that Vex had arrived. The calm, quick Jedi Knight was one of her favorite Saber summons.

And if Vex was there, it made the likelihood of Stephen being there become a certainty.

Naruko shrugged her shoulders and went back to the task at hand. She'd vanished into the trees quite quickly, letting a shadow clone take her place as the bait to lure Kakashi away from them.

The teacher would be so busy trying to fight the reinforced clone that he wouldn't notice them going for the bells nearly as much as he would have otherwise. Her secondary plan was to spam clones like no tomorrow in an attempt to throw the jounin off of who was actually going for the bells. After all, she did have the necessary chakra to do something of that level.

The clone was doing its job, distracting Kakashi, up until the Jounin popped the thing.

Naruko could see Kakashi's eye widen from where she was. She quickly changed her coloring to match her surroundings. Invisibility, while it was useful, would not be needed just yet.

She slowly slunk back down onto the ground, slowly moving to a point where the sudden appearance of clones or influx of chakra would not be noticed, or at least, not much so.

She swore under her breath when Kakashi clearly noted the change in chakra amounts. She would have to book it from her position at the moment if she wanted to get out of there unscathed.

Time to move to plan B: spamming shadow clones as much as she could possibly handle.

She knew, especially from boredom, that she could hit over four hundred clones and only feel minor exhaustion. However, she would get an earful from everyone if she tried that many in one short period, so she went for a different method. Fifteen heavily reinforced clones.

* * *

While all of them were keeping Kakashi on his toes, Naruko summoned Peter Maximoff.

"Get your ass in there, grab the bells, and get back. If you need it, I'll spam more clones to cover your ass." Peter snorted quietly, but nodded at his summoner and did as she told him.

Well, he would have, if Kakashi hadn't landed a lucky hit and sent the mutant sprawling.

Peter winced, but ran back over to where he had been before the long way around.

Naruko winced with Peter when she saw what had happened. The surviving clones- an impressive eight of them, especially against a jounin- fell back into the trees with their creator.

Peter was healing fast, thankfully. He felt quite a bit of shame for not being able to protect a kid only a few years his junior (and knowing that his future-daughter or whatever probably would have done better made that feeling even worse), but he thought he might get a second shot.

He was slightly irritated when Naruko instead summoned the second overpowered Archer class.

Peter quailed under the white-haired man's disapproving gaze, silently vowing to do better.

Thankfully, the Counter Guardian was placed on watch duty while Peter made another pass.

Peter wasn't sure if he could live with the indignity of being passed over by the man who now went by Archer Emiya. While Arch was usually nice enough, and a good cook, like his 'little brother' (who was really his alternate, but Chesh's alternate was a girl and the telepath's 'little sister' so Peter had kind of grown to accept that sort of thing), he was also a higher-up.

The Speedster classes got far less respect than they should have, and Peter wasn't going to blow it for his fellows of the ridiculously fast. Therefore, he disliked Emiya's presence on principle.

Also, it stood to reason that if Archer Emiya showed up, his younger half-brother would as well, and Peter didn't know if he could look his baby brother in the eyes and say that he'd failed.

So, he gathered his resolve, nodded at his summoner and his superior, and went back in.

This time, of course, Peter Maximoff had a better plan than just running in blindly.

The speedster looped around several times, confusing the man, and grabbed both of the bells.

* * *

Thankfully, unlike the first and second times, Kakashi did not replace himself or see the speedster coming for him. Peter panted when he reached Archer and Naru- breaking the sound barrier that early on was not an easy feat, and required quite the bit of energy. He was able to hand over the bells before Naru nodded, grinning, and Peter felt the feeling of being dispelled.

He groaned when, instead, it was Merlin who met him at the return site with palpable irritation.

"Why did you think it would be a good idea to go after a Jounin with no plan?" Peter winced.

At least he hadn't laid into him for endangering their summoner. If that had happened, the Speedsters would probably collectively throw his ass off of some cliff afterwards. Led by Barry.

The other Speedster was a protective asshole when it came to kids- especially the apparently different version of his nephew, Wally West, and little Dash, who was too young for a Spirit.

Peter wondered how much more protective the most powerful speedster of the lot would become if he knew that Powerhouse Number Two (Kara didn't count since she was a Guardian mix as well) was the result of Barry's female alternate and Peter... he didn't want to think about it.

The man would probably be as bad as Iruka Umino. When he was protective, Iruka was scary.

A brunet stopped the silver-haired speedster as he made his way to his group's shared home.

"Why, pray tell, did you not tell me Maia was our daughter?" Peter gulped again.

* * *

Kakashi Hatake tried to think of himself as a decently strong-willed type of man.

However, he couldn't help the feeling of slight fear when he noted the blur of silver moving faster than even his old sensei's trademark jutsu. He reacted instinctively to the silver blur.

However, the second time, he missed it. He could tell it had been the blur, but the clones had covered the thing. Once he realized that the bells were missing, he relaxed and grinned.

Whichever one of them that had been, that had been something quite impressive, and the jounin couldn't wait to see their explanation of how they'd managed to do the thing.

What he hadn't known was that not only could Naruko keep spamming clones like this all day, but that she could snag from the summons realm all day as well if she so wished.

However, he was mostly surprised when Sasuke and Sakura were the ones to come out with the bells- up until he noted the looks of confusion on both of the pair's young faces.

He tied Naruko to the post, and listened to _Sasuke_ of all people trying to convince Sakura to feed Naruko. The argument mainly revolved around the tomatoes and the clones, however...

It had been a "If she hadn't given us the bells, it would be one of us sitting there!" from Sasuke that confirmed his thoughts (and had gotten Naruko fed).

Less than a mile away, Iruka was meeting with a brunet with strikingly pale blue eyes.

The idea that this... cat... of a man had been little Naruko's primary summon was a shock, but Iruka could understand it. While he seemed to hide it behind a cheery, yet intelligent demeanor, (in fact, Iruka was certain that this was the man Naruko had gotten the idiot ruse from, as he wove that mask so well, minus, of course, the intelligent part, which was a clearly successful attempt to make sure that she was underestimated), Ariel "Cheshire" Lehnsherr was clearly just as sharp as any kunai. Well, he'd seemed so. When Iruka sat down and tried to smile at the man, the Killing Intent in the room dropped dramatically, and the young looking summon smiled back.

"Did you know she can do over a hundred Kage Bunshin and still spam more without tiring?" the summon asked the teacher, delight in his bright eyes. Iruka's jaw dropped more than ever before.

"No, I didn't. And you said this was _barely_ drawing on the Kyuubi's chakra, if that?" Iruka found this conversation incredibly entertaining- from learning the virtues of what a Heroic Spirit summon really meant, to understanding what in hell they were teaching the little blonde girl.

Chesh wasn't saying how, but apparently the kid had gotten at least a few of their abilities- which explained the sheer amount of times he'd seen something metal floating around the kid, or she'd get somewhere freakishly fast, or the way she always seemed to be reading your mind.

Apparently, according to Cheshire, the last hadn't been his imagination. Although, it was less reading someone's mind and more listening to the thoughts that everyone was screaming out.

Cheshire had given him an idea of what that had felt like, and Iruka couldn't help but wince at the thought of dealing with what was on everyone's minds all the time. It was a useful skill, though.

And then, when he thought things couldn't get any stranger, he was introduced to mutations.

The slightly stammered explanation of how the shifter mutation worked was all Iruka needed to know about the thing (and the fact that Cheshire was so clearly one). Clearly he wanted to stop.

However, the idea that multiple abilities could be passed down genetically was quite interesting, and so he was introduced to Bobcat, Cheshire's female counterpart.

The young woman insisted he call her Kefira, or Kefa, as her original name, before the two had begun working together, was close to that in meaning, but was too close to Cheshire's name to be comfortable.

From there, he soaked up information like a sponge. He didn't even notice the changing of the light, or the vivid glow of two pairs of blue eyes as Kefa proceeded to explain the entirety of how evolutionary biology worked, and an in-depth explanation of how genetics worked, since he'd only gotten the bare bones back in school. They finally worked their way back to mutations, enjoying the fact that they would have left anyone else in complete shock, while Iruka continued to be a little sponge.

Cheshire and Bobcat left with twin grins on their far too similar faces, and Iruka shuddered at the idea of those two working together through more than just their minds. If one of the most powerful members of the Heroic Spirit summons had a constant link of communication with his alternate, also a powerful telepath, Iruka feared for the world if the two got angry.

He didn't know what to say when they told him to watch out for their Dad.

* * *

 **As you can see, minor edits so that they don't know.**


	5. Chapter Four: Sharp Eyes (And Claws)

**Yay! Chapter Four/Five is now here! More of everyone, and, of course, insanity.**

 **I hope you'll have a great weekend! Happy Friday!**

Chapter Four: Sharp Eyes (And Claws)

* * *

 _Counter Guardian EMIYA, who now simply went by Archer Emiya to avoid confusion, was rather tired. The five year old that had summoned them (thankfully not as Servants) had been somewhat high maintenance, but the main issue had been going with Cheshire to scout out why a five year old had been in a forest like this without supervision, and without anyone going into panic._

 _Archer Emiya did not like what he had seen. Neither did a now slightly homicidal Cheshire._

 _They'd seen people practically spitting on her in the streets. Not only that, but she was_ five _and she lived by herself! Cheshire had 'heard' people calling a_ five year old _a demon!_

 _Archer watched carefully as Cheshire winced at every mention of the word 'freak' or 'monster'._

 _He knew that most mutants had aversions to those words- especially ones like Cheshire, who had to hear it in their heads as well as through their ears- but he noted that it was worse here._

 _Most likely it was the fact that it was an innocent little five year old that was being attacked that was making Cheshire's anger almost a living thing in its massive power._

 _The usually gentle Guardian spirit was clearly having a visible struggle against attacking them._

* * *

Archer was used to Cheshire's loud, clear emotions being splashed everywhere in his mind.

The amount of time he'd spent mentally chatting with the telepath had made him the most likely candidate for Cheshire to complain to, and he sometimes felt what the other did.

It was frustrating at times, and terrifying at others. More than once before, he'd felt fear crawl down his spine in a place where there was none, or anger towards someone who wasn't there.

When this happened, Archer would make Cheshire sit down and relax.

After all, nobody else seemed to be trying to make sure that the Guardian didn't burn out.

* * *

Cheshire was amused at all the unconscious effort that his favorite Archer put into making sure that he didn't burn out. While his telepathy, and the powerful emotive sensing that came along with it, was tiring, Archer seemed to forget that he was much older than the other was.

He'd seen empires rise and fall with a dispassionate look on his face, he'd seen heroes buckle, villains take their last breaths, and conquerors have to turn back after years of slaughter.

However, it was nice to know that at least someone in the Throne of Heroes cared for his health.

His brother was too lazy to do so. There were few people who would bother to grab him when he passed out from overexertion (usually after several all-nighters)- and most of them had something to do with Alexander Hamilton, the Archer and Assassin-Technical (he'd been added to the Class when it had been formed) who was the only other person who had to deal with it regularly.

To be fair, however, both had their own methods of working themselves to the bone. Alexander preferred writing to be his poison of choice, while Cheshire tended to overuse his telepathy, or shield most of the time. Both, however, eventually ended up in the state of heavy exhaustion.

* * *

Alexander Hamilton was rather fond of the brat that he'd given his manic work tendencies to.

Naruko Uzumaki was a sweet kid- she reminded him of his own daughters. However, she also had the endurance levels that himself and Cheshire did, and that meant teaching her to write like she was running out of time. He still could hear Iruka quietly cussing him out.

Alexander had met the chuunin shortly after Cheshire had, and Iruka had been terrified when he learned that he was face to face with the man who had instilled Naruko's demonic work ethic.

Alexander Hamilton was _infamous_ within the circles of the few people that knew of Naruko's summons. The man's tendencies to win any argument, snipe, and write were incredible.

However, Iruka Umino was far more terrified of the sheer speed at which the American spoke.

The exasperated look that the Rider (apparently snagged by one of the Reapers to keep Hamilton in line) by the name of something-Gilbert-something Lafayette shot Hamilton was enough to know that it wasn't just him that was slightly in denial about Hamilton's speed of speech.

* * *

Iruka Umino chose to ignore the insanity that came along with Naruko's summons, which, according to the more laid-back summons, was the best way to go about dealing with them.

Iruka kept hearing about being worried about Magneto while he was meeting each one of Naruto's summons. He didn't know why everyone seemed to be nervous about Magneto.

They should have warned him about Charles Xavier.

* * *

Iruka gulped as he sat down on the small chair across from the sofa where Xavier was sitting. From this close up, he could easily see the resemblance between the man and Cheshire.

"Yes, Ari is my son, why do you ask?" Iruka jumped and looked at the man stirring his tea.

"Sorry... it's just... you look like him, but even though you scare me half to death, you don't seem like the 'Dad' they kept warning me about." Suddenly, like with Cheshire, the KI in the room fell.

"I am, actually. The one they'd warned you about. While everyone else is scared of Erik, my children know what happens when I feel the need to protect my own. And the story's complicated, by the way. So is how I knew you were going to ask that." Charles laughed.

"I'm familiar with your... son's... telepathy." Iruka felt worried when Charles looked up at him.

"Mr. Umino, with all due respect, you only felt a _smidgeon_ of what a powerful telepath can do. While Erik, the one they fear, can manipulate the metal in your body to force it to break from the inside out, I touch your _mind._ I can regress your memories so you do not remember anything past the age of a month. I can change your outlook on life in the blink of an eye. I can spend every day I wish ripping your mind apart, sowing it back together again, never touching you, and I can do it all from the comfort of my own home. So, Mr. Umino, for your extended health, please don't hurt the most recent of my pseudo-children, yes?" Iruka looked in shock at the telepath in front of him.

Iruka suddenly knew that the other teacher was going to keep him here all day if he needed to.

So the Konoha chuunin did the only thing he thought would keep his mind intact.

He stayed quiet, he nodded, and then, when the talking began again, the shinobi listened.

* * *

Gilgamesh of Uruk knew that the other Heroic Spirits looked at him with shock every time he swung the smaller blonde up onto his wide shoulders. Like he couldn't take care of a child.

Originally, Gilgamesh (and by extension, Enkidu) had seen that as a challenge. However, the brat had managed to worm her way into his heart in a matter of days, and whenever he could, the other Spirits could see him with a far too small blonde with blue eyes perched on the shoulders of her "big brother", gleefully screeching when the Heroic Spirit started to run with her on his back.

Gil missed the times where Naru was small enough so that shoulder rides weren't awkward.

* * *

Shirou Emiya (the redheaded one) knew he should be studying for college finals, but the amusement he got from watching the now Summons was unparalleled. Especially when watching his now-proclaimed "older sibling" try to get Shirou's surprisingly large fan club within the Throne under control. Said fan club had mostly been made up of random heroes who'd managed to come in contact with the redhead at some point or another (a rather large number) and had fallen for his apparent sweetheart personality. Shirou now had to listen to Arch threaten Lancer with bodily harm if he came within a hundred yards of Shirou all the damn time.

Speaking of Lancer, the bluenette was surprisingly at the head of his fan club. Apparently it had started out as guilt for taking him out, since he had just been a bystander, and then morphed.

Shirou didn't care what it was; Lancer's manic tendencies were freaking him out.

The redhead got the feeling that he would have to seek safety with Fenrir sooner rather than later.

* * *

Fenrir Jacobi, formerly known as Lokison, did not spend as much time in the Summons realm as the rest of them. Like Cheshire, he had been grabbed as a living being, so he could leave.

In fact, most of the Healer, Reaper, and Guardian classes could leave on the regular.

However, he liked the little brat that had summoned them, and the new universe he got to experience through that. So, he popped over from time to time, kept Shirou from being driven crazy by his fan club, healed a handful of idiots who'd gotten themselves hurt, and generally kept himself amused. The Seidr found the rest of the Throne's antics quite amusing at times.

Of course, when he was being woken up at two in the morning by an overexcited Jackie the Ripper asking to be made breakfast, it was all he could do to avoid burying his head in the table and letting out a groan that would probably sound to most like some sort of dying animal.

He may have been a several thousand-year-old Seidr and a Norse beast of legend, but he was allowed to have reactions to things, dammit! Especially the idiots he had to share his turf with.

Fenrir didn't understand how the smart, calm ones like Xavier, Pendragon, and Enkidu could deal with the kinds of things that all three dealt with on a regular basis from the others.

* * *

Cheshire wasn't sure about how to deal with the crazies that made up over half of the Berserker class. Despite the Mad Enhancement having to be quite common, it was actually quite rare to find anyone decently sane in the first place under the hood of that finicky magic.

The two big "scores" in that category had been Lancelot and Heracles (or Hercules), the former of whom Pendragon had known to be sharp and the second that Fenrir could attest to.

Well, the wolf had been right about one thing- while Hercules wasn't a complete idiot, if it didn't have anything to do with fighting; he wasn't particularly gifted in many areas of intelligence.

There were, admittedly, a handful of particularly intelligent Berserkers, but most of them could also easily fit into the Assassin or some other slot. Technically, Fenrir could be counted as a part of this bunch, so Cheshire just counted them as their other class and moved along.

Why he was sorting out Berserkers? They'd found more than one or two strong heroes under Mad Enhancement running around the Berserker compound, and it was the job of all of the strongest telepaths (usually Healer, Guardian, or Rider spirits) to find out who the hell they were.

Pendragon had nearly cried when Cheshire and one of the Healers (some kid named Stiles, too young to be in the Throne by far, probably some fictional character or another, they got those sometimes) had presented her with Lancelot. Merlin, being an irritable Caster, was almost jealous, if it hadn't been for the fact that Lancelot was quite happy to see the young Caster.

It was very hard to be angry with someone when they're trying to crush you to death via hug.

Merlin learned this lesson the hard way when the much taller Spirit (who was now classed as a median Saber and Berserker mix) began dragging both of his comrades around the Throne.

Gawain was also happy to see the other two Sabers. And thus began the remaking of the Round Table, much to the agitation of one Caster summon. But who listened to Merlin, anyways?

* * *

The silent agreement of the agitation that came from the Healer servants was all Merlin needed to know that he would be getting at least a little help from that corner of the Throne of Heroes.

At the very least, his fellow magic users would be on his side- Stephen and Fenrir had grown quite fond of the large-eared prodigy, and were quite often seen debating forms of magic.

Usually, however, Strange won. Not due to power, and not due to accessibility either.

No, Stephen Strange tended to win due to the fact that his magic looked the coolest to the eye.

While Merlin's was powerful, it wasn't particularly flashy, and the same went for Seidr magic, even if it did happen to be a bit more decorative. But the impressive patterns that could be generated by the magic that Stephen used were quite beautiful, and therefore, the Sorcerer Supreme tended to win most of the arguments by showing off a sling ring or something.

Both other magicals seemed completely obsessed with his cloak, so Stephen let them take a look at it. Big mistake. The two others each created their own "magic garments" afterwards.

Stephen silently noted that both of them had bulletproof articles, and scarves that did something.

At least they did different things. Stephen didn't think that the world was ready for a pair of magical people with magical garrote wire scarves.

Thinking about it, Stephen shuddered, and went back to his book as he watched the actions of his fellow magicals while they trained.

Stephen noted that both seemed to have a fire obsession.

Maybe he could use that.

* * *

Iruka looked back at Charles from across the table, silently breathing in and out as he took in the information overload that he had just gotten. Charles looked at the man with worry.

Iruka waved him off with a smile. He would get used to this.

The amount he could learn at one time was quite extraordinary!

Iruka couldn't wait until he could learn more.

* * *

Cheshire grinned from where he was on the roof, watching the kids try to catch Tora. So it seemed that Dad had taken a more hands-on approach after all.

Naruko growled from where she had nearly caught that demon cat.

The little Genin had no clue that her Summons had been laying quite interesting groundwork.

No, not at all.

* * *

 **And done! I hope you'll all have a great weekend, and I hope I haven't confused you any more than I already have! Read and review! Please tell me a way to fix anything you see wrong- someone pointed out in the prologue that there were some misspells, so feel free to mention any grammar or spelling mistakes, or give me a suggestion on a hero!**

 **Again, hope y'all have a great weekend!**


	6. Chapter Five: Warmth Of Spirit

**Hey! Another chapter! I know it's been a while, but home's been less than relaxing as of late, and I also have been working on other stuff. The next chapter also won't be here for a while, as this one was posted rather quickly after I finished it, and I don't _really_ have a Beta, so everything's pretty much raw. If anyone wants to offer, I'd _love_ an editor.**

Chapter Five: Warmth Of Spirit

* * *

Naruko had always had a good memory. It had been one of the many things that had drawn them to her in the first place. This allowed her to see the wonderful changes that had happened with her summons over time. Some were small, some were large, but most were good.

She remembered when Gilgamesh had changed from slightly standoffish- even to children- to protective and doting. She remembered when Cheshire had finally grown up. She'd seen all of them slowly grow closer together over time. She'd felt when Chesh lowered his shields to Archer, allowing, for once, another to read _his_ state of being, rather than the other way around.

She remembered when Stiles had joined, all loud, kind, and incredibly talented. She'd remembered when they'd begun talking to the Berserkers without their mad enhancement, and she'd remembered Arturia Pendragon's face when Lancelot had been returned to sanity.

She remembered the way that many of them had slowly become gentler beings over time.

They'd swung her up on tall shoulders so she could see the world. They'd taught her how to take care of herself, and how to slip places without anybody ever seeing her.

More importantly, however, they'd taught her to persevere. They'd taught her to be noble. They'd taught her to be able to find her way in this strange, enormous world she called her own.

She would smile, sometimes, watching these idiots whom she called her family.

Naruko Uzumaki knew that, no matter what, they'd chosen her. They'd _chosen_ to answer her call.

And that choice, that acknowledgement, was worth every spat insult from a villager.

* * *

Arturia Pendragon had learned, over the last several years, that there was no limit to how kind someone could be. It was surprising that particular piece of information surprised her, as they all had seen the other side of the spectrum to be true. And yet, the King of Knights found herself fascinated by the amount of kindness that their summoner showed to what seemed like everyone.

The little blonde was so full of light, so full of _life_ , and Arturia couldn't help but be amazed.

And now, as she walked with fellow legends and her own Knights, the protective surge that she'd felt when looking into a blue-eyed face surrounded by bright blonde hair was still strong.

* * *

Kol Mikaelson, representative of the vampires within the Throne, and representative of his family, was bored as hell. Sure, like the rest of them, he cared for his summoner (she was cute as a button and reminded him far too much of the handful of kids he'd met back in New Orleans- far too wide-eyed and innocent, but with a surprising spine of steel), but he was hungry.

Naruko had let him snack on Mizuki after T and I had finished with him, but Kol was still hungry, and bored. Oh, and had he mentioned that he was hungry? Yes, Kol was very hungry.

The main point of contention there was that the Uchiha brat had delicious smelling AB negative blood, and Kol hadn't eaten in _days_. Before Mizuki, he hadn't eaten in _weeks_ , and even then, it was only a little stealing from the hospital. However, the brat, no matter how disrespectful, was Naruko's teammate, and therefore was off of the menu. Maybe Kol could convince him to donate some of his blood if the kid knew he wasn't planning to use it in some ritual- just eat it.

* * *

Gilgamesh rolled his eyes at the Original vampire's antics. He'd grown familiar with the boredom of immortals from the length he'd stayed in the Throne, but he'd never feel the _hunger_ for blood that Kol always seemed to have. He seemed to relax when fed recently, which was a big relief, but they didn't have the means to feed a vampire that much blood on a regular basis.

Thankfully, the more _alive_ Heroes had nothing against donating a little blood for the infuriating vampire, who was perfectly happy to just be fed. So, usually, Gil just had to deal with a bored Original, rather than a hungry one. At least he didn't have to feed the older Mikaelsons.

Fenrir had been instrumental in making this arrangement, as Kol had trusted Fenrir for some reason, so the youngest Original tended to hang around the older wolf and Healer class.

However, Chesh and Fen were nowhere near, as far as Gilgamesh could tell, and Kol hadn't fed in awhile. Thankfully Naruko was bound to take a C-rank sometime soon, so they could probably slip away and find Kol someone to eat other than anyone in the village. There were probably at least a handful of random bandits or enemy nin that Naruko wouldn't mind Kol snacking on- or maybe even Klaus or Elijah, if Naruko wanted to _ever_ bring any of the older Originals out.

Gilgamesh gave a long sigh again. Sometimes, deep down, the King of Heroes really wondered why he even bothered. And then he would recall the few times he hadn't shown up on time.

* * *

 _Gil immediately shot up out of his bed in horror at the information that Charles had just relayed to him. Kol, Wade, and Naruko had found the glitter gun, they were hiding it somewhere, and something was going down inside of ANBU HQ. The knowledge that some other spirits were assisting them- namely an Assassin by the name of Ty Lee, and one of the Reaper brats (Gil thought his name was Ichigo, but he could be wrong)- was not as horrifying as the thought that the recent removal of the stick up the Mikaelson's ass would result in the vampire making their resident Prank Team a trio, rather than the somewhat manageable duo they had been._

 _And now, because the universe hated them all, the Prank Team had the glitter gun._

 _Oh, and according to a very distressed Fenrir, about fifty gallons of the Throne's best white chocolate. At that point, most of the Healer and Speedster classes had started to run around screaming, because if there was one thing those two groups shared, other than their absolutely insane protective streaks, it was a massive love for every and any kind of chocolate._

 _Hours later, when confronted on why she'd taken the white chocolate, Naruko hesitantly admitted that it had been either that or the expensive dark chocolate, as milk chocolate was her favorite._

 _Kol seemed to be in shock that he was willing to do a prank like that. Wade was just happy._

 _That had been the start of the corruption of the ex villain known as Kol Mikaelson._

 _In the immortal words of Anakin Skywalker, it had been a case of "Come do the dark side, we have cookies". Gilgamesh couldn't really blame the guy, though. Being around this lot for a while would loosen even the furthest shoved of sticks, and he was speaking from experience there._

* * *

Charles Xavier was rather fond of the fox that his summoner was the container of.

Kurama had the same kind of fierce devotion towards the little brat that the rest of them had, and Charles could respect that in anyone. It was why he got on so well with Iruka in the first place.

The old fox had started to speak with them, and his container, shortly after said container had gained one of the most powerful summoning contracts that the Bijuu had seen in his long life.

His container had always been a gentle child, with her eyes on the sky, but steel in her spine.

Kurama wondered if the little girl would do any better if given explosives. He would have to ask.

* * *

Naruko Uzumaki ignored the questioning feeling coming from Kurama, and instead focused on the real world. While it wasn't unusual for the fox to be antsy after sleeping so long- the drain from the use of the Speed Force had been rather large, and she would have to learn to work with it in a far more efficient way than she did now- he usually didn't carry an air of amusement.

Naruko simply sighed quietly as the team continued on their D-ranks. She would train with the spirits later, knowing that if she was given the time, she would be able to improve more rapidly.

* * *

As a Speedster, Bartholomew Henry Allen had a different understanding of time than the rest of them. He knew that he wasn't supposed to travel back in time, but oh well. He'd managed to get one of the tiny dinosaurs that Merlin seemed to obsessed with. The Microraptor chirped in amusement as it was delivered to the easily excitable sorcerer, who promptly named her Regina.

Why Regina, Barry would never know, but at least he now understood why everyone else tried their best to avoid anyone who was talented with magic. They were confusing at the best of times.

Even Fenrir, who... never mind, Fenrir was the worst of the lot. An Asgardian that blatantly ignored any rule of the universe, Barry was just happy that he didn't have to deal with the over-friendly wolf more than he had to. Fenrir was nice and all, but he had a problem with staying completely in the moment, and he was more than a little clingy, which Barry greatly disliked.

However, he had to admit that the man was a brilliant doctor, and had taught the equally annoying yet brilliant Arturia Blackwood (who Barry thankfully didn't have to deal with, because while she was friendly, good at what she did, and a tad more normal than Fenrir, she was also a massive pain in the behind to the point that one would get headaches if exposed to her on a regular basis), and a handful of other talented medics every trick in his magically enhanced book.

Barry was thankful, however, of said talent, because he really, really didn't want to end up as a bloody smear on someone's wall after something stupid he or the others had done.

In that way, Fenrir's only occasional appearances should have worried Barry far more than they ever did, because Fenrir was one of the few doctors they had, and corpses weren't patients.

The wolf was annoying at the best of times, but at least he tried his best to keep them alive.

Fenrir didn't care, as long as nobody messed with his chocolate stash. He liked his chocolate.

* * *

Naruko continued to quietly work on their D-rank while her summons continued to bicker (according to Cheshire, anyways) and fight over random things. She hoped that she could boot Kol back to his universe at some point in the near future, because the vamp, even when he _was_ happier than usual, and being a general prankster, he was a complete _asshole,_ and the stick had never been truly dislodged from its place far, far up Kol's undead, blood-lusting behind.

Naruko wasn't an idiot. While Kol had loosened up enough to play nice with the other Spirits, he was a loose cannon, and it wouldn't be long before one of the other loose cannons tired of him.

Most likely, it would be Fenrir's younger sister, Hela, who, as a Death Goddess, had the power required to boot Kol's ass out of the summons realm (most likely off to some form of Hell as a torturer), and wasn't very fond of the pain-in-the-ass vampire. Or, someone more powerful would come along and "reboot" the bastard, making him a Caster rather than an Assassin-Berserker.

She had it on good authority that she _could_ Summon Kol as a Caster, effectively making the reboot her own, but she didn't want to risk summoning Kol under Mad Enhancement, resulting in the deaths of anyone within a ten-mile radius of the original summoning, as long as nobody got Enhanced Kol hungry again, which would result in even more deaths. Naruko shuddered at the thought. The only time she felt it would be necessary to summon Kol under Enhancement would be during an invasion, in which the vampire could function as both a weapon and a fear tactic.

Naruko doubted that even most Jounin would be stupid enough to pick a fight with something that has been draining the blood of and killing the other shinobi in their (hopefully large) forces.

Naruko went back to weeding the garden, not realizing that Kakashi had noticed her shuddering.

* * *

Quite the distance away, or rather _up_ , a rather relaxed Cheshire was watching with an intelligent avian eye. If anyone had been close enough to see the color, they would be rather put off by the shocking electric blue that was there instead of a hawk's also fiery shade of golden-orange.

The hawk in question had been Cheshire's attempts to keep an eye on Naruko while still managing to be somewhat less visible than he usually was. The occasional slip into a cloudbank to change his form slightly, and his preference to circle around in wide ovals rather than a tighter movement made it so none seemed to realize that the mutant had been hanging around the area.

Cheshire was thoroughly unimpressed with Kakashi's lack of teaching skills, and resolved to find someone from his lot of shinobi that managed to reach the Throne of Heroes that had _some_ talent in wind-related techniques, instead of all of the idiots with a massive dependency upon fire.

He moved swiftly into a dive when he received a somewhat panicked signal from his fellow "Kid Patrol" guards. The pair was made up of a young Caster named Regulus (although Cheshire couldn't remember for the life of him what the guy had done, although he'd barley remembered Gilgamesh's legend when they first met, so that wasn't exactly the poor kid's fault), a brilliant little Assassin class by the name of Rue (whom everyone was certain of her being far too young to be a Heroic Spirit, though Jackie was evidence to the contrary), and Cheshire himself.

The panicked message was from Regulus, as the wizard was the only one out of the other two that could do any magic. Rue was contentedly off to the side, slipping about, into, and around buildings almost lazily. Naruko was the only one to notice any of them, and Cheshire noted that the blonde was quite clearly listening in on their conversation. Cheshire looked to Regulus.

"Well? Report," the mutant hissed, with more than a little bit of bite in his soft voice. Regulus gulped, and would have stuttered said report if not for the relaxation of the smaller man's posture.

"Is it actually a big deal, or is it something we can handle, Regulus?" Cheshire asked with a little exasperation, watching with something almost akin to amusement as Regulus thought.

"Well, we've got a bit of a situation here," Regulus admitted. Chesh motioned for him to continue.

"Well, what is it?" the other Brit asked, with a slightly bitter tone of voice.

"They've-ah- been awarded a C-Rank?" he squeaked. That was _not_ what Cheshire expected.

* * *

 **Whee! Another one, finally! After this, it's more plot-driven rather than character-driven, so... far less frustration. By the way, yes Kol Mikaelson is technically from the Vampire Diaries, yes, I know, groan, I hate it, prefer The Originals, the spinoff, much more, but he's not gonna be here long, as alluded to in the "Hela Doesn't Like Him" scene, and plus... he's got bloodlust to rival Shukaku.**


	7. Chapter 6: Togetherness (and lack of it)

**It's here- finally! It's taken me a while to get back in the swing of things with this story, and I might slip out of it again, so, just as a warning... be prepared to wait.**

* * *

Chapter Six: Togetherness

Naruko Uzumaki, now that she thought about it, wasn't quite sure why she continued to put up with the shit she got from her home village. It certainly wasn't because she liked them. Even most shinobi were more than a little wary around her, and they should have known better than that.

She knew she had a permanent spot open with Hela (the Death Goddess had made that much clear) and with Barry, as the speedster was one of the few living members of the group that had practically raised her. Charles was an obvious point as well, and it would allow her to be around the most people. Naruko sighed. It wasn't like she was going to leave, anyways. That took a lot.

She would have to explain _why_ she felt the need to leave, and _why_ she wasn't taking anyone else with her. It took immense amounts of patience and a rather relaxed demeanor to retire from the Shinobi forces and leave the Elemental Counties altogether, especially when she was so young.

* * *

Cheshire wasn't sure of what to do with the tiny thing that had wormed her way into his life. She seemed frustrated, alone, and he didn't know how to help her. It had been much simpler when she was younger- when he could tell her it was going to be all right, and when she would _believe_ it.

He hoped that she would choose to leave this place. It wasn't good enough for her here.

Naruko Uzumaki was the kind of girl that Cheshire wanted at the school, setting an example with her grit, _and_ her wit. Despite being a child prodigy, _nothing_ was _ever_ handed right to her. It reminded Cheshire of Fen, with his passionate _need_ to help people, or Alex, the young woman in the Saber department, who, despite being brilliant, always strived to be better than yesterday.

She, in an essence, was his baby. He, along with the others, had raised her from the age of _five,_ and it _killed_ him to see her like this. Cheshire sighed. They would protect her. They always did.

* * *

Charles Xavier knew his children better than anyone, and Ari being protective wasn't exactly anything new. He worked well with children, considering how surprisingly laid back he'd become, and that did bring forth certain measures of overprotectiveness. Peter wasn't like that at all, but he was good with the older kids, and the younger ones were quite enthralled with speed.

However, she might fit in better with Wally, and the speedster's 'verse, now that he gave it some true thought. The second-youngest speedster (the youngest being Dash, who was almost never around anymore, or technically Bart, but he hadn't been invited in yet) truly missed his home, and it wasn't like he was the only one that lived there. Fenrir did as well. In fact, the Asgardian had _cried_ when he'd seen Wally, all protective and sad and hopeful, and Charles had understood.

"Next person to call her 'demon brat' or deny her service will be facing me," Hela growled as she sat down beside Charles. The usually aloof Asgardian wasn't there often, but Charles couldn't help but agree with her when she was. Like her siblings, Hela had a job to do back home, but still managed to make it to the Throne when she had the time. When she was there, Hela was protective, watching over her too-sweet elder brother and her snappy elder sister, and little Naru.

"I have to agree. What have you heard of the possible arrangements?" Charles asked the Death Goddess. It had been weeks since they had all begun speaking of it, and Charles hadn't heard her.

"I agree with what Alex said about her world, and Barry wants to get back home, not take care of a kid. Frankly, yours or mine are the only ones really equipped to help her... and she's practically an honorary Asgardian anyways," Hela finished with a sad smile. She was just as fond of Naruko as the rest of them were, and clearly wanted to help with the girl. Charles nodded quietly.

"We'll see what she decides, and don't be too quick to judge Barry," Charles hummed, moving away from the Asgardian as he continued to ponder what was going on back home.

"Glad she managed to banish the vampire, though... his bloodlust wasn't a good thing," Charles muttered under his breath as he passed the Assassin compound, which was far more open soon after the banishment of Kol Mikaelson. He continued on his way, a quiet but powerful presence.

* * *

Naruko walked quietly down the path, following the rest of her "team" and their client. They weren't really a team. They were a bunch of loose cannons thrown together- Naruko was a flight risk, Sasuke had an avenger's complex, Sakura _hated_ her, even though she'd tried to be friendly to the girl. Kakashi had severe PTSD (although, to be fair, anyone who'd ever gotten past Chuunin did), and wasn't a very good teacher. And, again, Naruko herself was a serious flight risk.

If she could just abruptly leave without warning, she probably would. At most, she would take another with her- maybe Shikamaru, or possibly someone else. None of the vultures, though.

Naruko wasn't paying attention when things shifted from okay to much, much worse than that.

She wasn't watching when the air seemed to bend- the sign of an illusion snapping.

* * *

It hadn't been surprising when Sakura and Sasuke had been praised, while she'd been berated for acting in interest of her teammate, rather than her client, and _apparently_ acting too rashly. It was like anything good she'd done over the past week had been erased, leaving a quiet hole behind. It was like they'd... forgotten.

She wondered if the others had seen her wound had been poisoned. Of course, the weak human poison couldn't stand up to a quick surge of Basilisk blood (thank you, Cheshire), but it had still been something that the other two genin, and even her sensei, had most certainly missed.

She continued to walk on, both hyperaware and unaware of her surroundings. It felt like she was floating, rising above the plane of existence she was on. She felt a rumble in the back of her mind.

 _"Hello, kit,"_ Kurama purred in the back of her head, distracting her for a minute amount of time.

 _"Hello, Kurama. Why must you seek to bother me whilst I should be paying attention?"_ she pondered. Kurama's sharp, barking laugh echoed through her skull, rattling her jaw and eyes.

 _"Must you do that, fox?"_ she spat, getting a sheepish giggle- _a freaking_ giggle _-_ from the beast.

 _"I only sought to warn you of trouble ahead. Do you so quickly forget that I am gifted in foresight, no matter_ how _unclear?"_ the demon quietly rumbled. Naruko immediately sharpened.

 _"What do you see, Kurama?"_ she hissed, interested in what the perpetually annoying creature had to say. It was clear the fox meant business today- she could tell Kurama was on edge, now.

 _"A man with a sword, and a boy who is not what he seems. The Hunter is not to be trusted, and the Predator will become Prey at the many hands of the Scavenger,"_ Kurama whispered. Naruko almost froze- Kurama's Sight was almost never that clear, which meant that either the event was major and couldn't be averted, or minor, but also couldn't be averted. Anything that was in the wind was something Kurama could not see, which meant... she had to take what came with it.

* * *

She was startled out of her thought process by a concerned look from her _client,_ of all people.

"Don't they use poisoned weapons?" Tazuna asked quietly, nodding at her hand. Naruko snorted.

"Both my pain and poison tolerance are off the charts, plus, I heal fast. They'd need a stronger dose to even consider taking me out of commission." At that, she sped up a tiny bit more.

"Shouldn't they be concerned about you, even if they know that?" Tazuna queried as they walked behind the other three. Naruko shook her head quietly, but wondered why _he_ was so concerned.

"I don't know why they don't care, I mean, I _try._ At least I know how to scrimp and save, unlike the one who's been a rich brat for his whole life, or the one who still has parents, so she doesn't have to. It's still kind of depressing, but goes with the territory, I guess. Why do you care?" She bit, watching as Tazuna shrugged, adjusting the towel around his neck quietly, then his glasses.

"From someone who's had kids, let me tell you, that is not how you encourage healthy development. I might not be training a bunch of child soldiers- and let me tell you, _that is what you are-_ and I may not be a model parent, but obvious favoritism is going to result in one kid expecting to get what they want all the time, and the other actually having a fucking work ethic, but severe self-esteem issues, which it seems like you have," Tazuna muttered quietly.

"What makes you think I have self-esteem issues?" she asked, curiosity coloring her voice.

"Well, for one, you let them walk all over you. Now, that may not be the case all the time, but you clearly don't feel like the center of attention, while _shrugging off the effects of a poisoned weapon._ What makes you think you _don't_ have self esteem issues?" Tazuna muttered sharply.

Naruko paused. That had been a good point. She'd never considered that her own achievements- her mutations, her use of the Speed Force, her ability to summon _fucking superheroes_ \- might be a bit more interesting and warranting of praise than an Uchiha doing a slightly bigger fireball.

* * *

However, Naruko shrugged and kept walking. It wasn't really her place to question how much attention that her sensei bestowed upon his students- no matter how much she disagreed with the lack of it being gifted to her. She would ignore it, and listen to group lessons. She got most of her information from her summons, anyways, at this point. It wasn't worth it to try.

The words spoken by Kurama still rang in her head, which kept her in focus. She periodically swiveled her head around- gently, so as not many would notice the slight twisting of her neck.

As they approached a motorboat on the water, Kakashi slowed so that he was walking next to Tazuna, rather than in front, like he had been. Naruko sped up slightly so that she was almost even with the other two genin, scanning the water in front of them with a critical eye.

She could fly over this in very little time, or run over it using the speed-force. She could even _swim_ , even that being faster than a motorboat (although, admittedly, she _could_ become a blue marlin, so using swim-speed to judge the capabilities of a perfectly good motorboat was harsh.

Naruko sighed. She wanted to flare huge, white gold wings, and watch the sky turn dark and echo with the sound of thunder around her. She wanted to race across the water, faster than anyone could ever hope to match, even when using speed jutsus. She wanted to swim under the water, getting up to fifty miles an hour, or even higher as a mer. She did not want to sit in a boat.

However, it would not be fair to the others if she got to do what she wanted (even if it would take her less than a second to cross the water when using the Speed Force), and they did not.

* * *

So, Naruko quietly sat in the boat, taking in the smells and sounds of the surrounding area, and resting her tired eyes. Naruko's blue eyes opened when Sakura flicked her leg, watching the agitated pinkette's ridiculous facial expression with nothing short of utter amusement.

"I'm listening, my eyes are tired," she whisper-hissed at Sakura, who seemed to be surprised at the fact that Naruko wasn't being louder than a herd of Argentinosaurs trying desperately to run from an oversized pack of Giganotosaurs (and don't ask her why she chose that as comparison).

Her heart dropped as she heard Tazuna detail what Gatou had done to the people of Wave. That wasn't right, at all, and it needed to be fixed- it shouldn't have just been the bridge being built.

Naruko started scanning the shore quietly, not letting any of the others know she was doing a heat-scan as well. It seemed like there might be _someone_ there, but if there was, they'd cooled themselves down, and the temperature was warm enough so that heat scans were almost useless.

Naruko returned her eyes to normal, thankful she could see proper colors again, rather than an endless sea of orange, that came with doing heat scans on a particularly (extremely) hot day.

As they touched down, Naruko remained cautious and aware, wondering silently if she should summon someone smart, sharp, fast, and powerful enough to take on whatever lied ahead.

Her first thought was a definite "yes", but she was uncertain of her desire to have her ace in the hole seen. Well, not uncertain. She _definitely_ didn't want anyone other than the ones she told know about her summons. Sasuke would try to pry the contract from her, all in the name of fratricide, Kakashi would probably try to tell her she wasn't ready, and have her give it up to the Hokage, and Sakura- Sakura would... honestly, Naruko didn't care much about what she did.

Next to Kakashi, Sakura was woefully underprepared for trying to take them from her. If she was prepared to defend the Throne of Heroes from a Jounin, she could keep it away from a Genin.

* * *

Naruko _almost_ didn't hear the sword, but the whistling was unmistakable. She dodged quickly.

 _'Did these idiots go to the Prometheus School of Running Away From Things? There were a million ways to avoid the sword,'_ Naruko thought with mirth, moving rapidly back into position.

The fight was fast, and Naruko couldn't help but feel awe watching her sensei give as well as he got. But soon enough, the problem was a water prison (with Kakashi in it) and they had _no_ clue as of what to do. They just tried to avoid Zabuza's attacks as best they could, and counteract a few.

Naruko had an idea, but it involved solid henge, and that wasn't something she liked very much.

Oh well. It worked, as it turned out, and worked well.

Kakashi was back in fighting shape in seconds, ready to use Zabuza's techniques against him.

Naruko watched, again impressed, as Kakashi returned every water-based blow. There were clearly several that he wasn't used to using, but he still did well.

Naruko felt something was off when the Hunter Nin grabbed Zabuza, but she didn't say anything.

They would be seeing them soon, she was sure of it. But it was more important to take care of her sensei at the moment.

She shrugged her shoulders and turned away, despite a feeling of dread building up in her stomach.

* * *

 **Yep... By the way, if she had gone with her gut and summoned someone, who do you think she should have summoned?**


	8. Chapter 7: Head On A Swivel

**WHOOT WHOOT**

 **New chapter in!**

 **Bet you thought you'd seen the last of ME!**

 **No, seriously, sorry this took so long.**

 **I'm working on like 10 things right now (1 being a Civil War fic with angry Asgardian children and a whole bunch of mutants)**

 **So sorry this took forever, but now you have...**

Chapter Seven: Head On A Swivel

* * *

When it came down to it, the most paranoid person that Wally West knew was Batman. Of course, Cheshire came to a close second, but _Batman._ Dick didn't count, he'd gotten the paranoia from Bats, and Fenrir certainly didn't count, as his paranoia was entirely justified, and actually helped in a worst-case scenario.

 _Fenrir_ had gone to ground when everyone else became mind-controlled slaves of Savage and Klarion. Naruko would have probably done something similar. Heaven knew that Goshawk did, and Andrea Kendall was a _less paranoid_ version of Bats.

Wally had been channeling Batman when he'd asked politely (because Naruko was the boss here, not him) for Naruko to start planning for the worst (invasion, armies, etc.) possible scenario.

When considering Cheshire, Wally knew that he would find out eventually, because Cheshire knew everything that went on within the confines of the Throne of Heroes, because he was a _freaking telepath._ Not the _I'm happy enough not to pick your head right now_ kind, but the _I literally can't stop hearing your thoughts, it's like you're screaming them, please stop._

He kind of felt sorry for the guy, when he'd calmly asked one of the Sabers to stop thinking about his ass. Wally felt nothing but pity for M'Gann and any other telepath he'd ever met right then.

He was also annoyed when Naruko ignored his "be paranoid, be very paranoid" advice, when she immediately TOOK A NAP IN THE MIDDLE OF ENEMY TERRITORY. Sure, she had that very-sharp-senses thing going for her, but COME ON. He didn't even have to point out why that was a painfully bad idea, as it was quite obvious. He wondered why Naruko hadn't noticed.

* * *

Naruko was always quiet. She didn't quite understand why Wally was so upset (she was fine, she'd be fine), but she just rolled her eyes and dealt with the speedster's panicked energy.

She was using this time to re-evaluate what was going on- to understand why her team seemed to not care about her. They'd seemed fine, even better than fine, really, when she'd started out. They were perfectly happy to accept food as a form of bribery (even if they hadn't truly realized it yet) and they were less judgmental on average than they had been before being assigned.

Now that she thought about it, though, she should have realized that it wasn't going to last.

After all, since when did anyone other than Shikamaru and Hinata, within the confines of the village, actually, genuinely care about her safety and general wellbeing?

Naruko laid her head back against the trunk of a particularly thick tree, raising her eyes to the sky.

Did they have no clue what she was capable of? Or did they just not think her worthy?

No, of course they didn't. If they'd seen her, rather than the beast, she would be farther than this.

* * *

Naruko inhaled, feeling the air vibrate quietly around her. If her eyes had been open, she would have seen the air shimmer, like a mirage. As it was, her eyes were closed, but she felt it.

"Hello, Vex," she whispered softly, feeling the temperature around her drop like a stone.

"Hello, kitling," the Jedi replied, watching her summoner with tired eyes.

"How are you doing today?" Naruko asked, sitting up with a gleam in her own.

"Just checking on you, kitling. I believe I am entitled to my worry, no?" she asked, quirking a pale eyebrow. Naruko laughed, immediately covering her mouth in slight horror.

"Relax, Naruko. They will not hear you. Now, what is it that I have heard about a missing nin?" Vex hummed, an almost violent glow apparent in her eyes. Naruko gulped.

"We fought him recently. We were not warned ahead of time, and as such, we were not prepared for an S-class Missing Nin to attempt to kill our client. We stood our ground and successfully retrieved our sensei when he was captured." Vex's eyebrow lifted as Naruko continued to explain.

"Are you sure you have injured this man sufficiently so that you do not fight him in the future?" she asked. Naruko looked down as she tried to visualize the effects of Zabuza's injuries.

"No, no, I'm-" a shout cut Naruko off as the girl looked around frantically.

"Ah. I'll go, since you don't want them to find out about me, kitling," she barked, saluting Naruko.

"I trust this was an illusion?" Naruko asked, gesturing around her meaningfully. Vex nodded.

"Of course! They will have simply seen you napping and heard what could possibly be counted as snoring. They will not have realized you've spoken to me. And, in the future, child, when you face these kinds of problems... at least call in Medusa."

* * *

Naruko was finally taking a nap when she was rudely interrupted by a rather soft-looking teen.

She blinked a few times, waiting for the world to come into focus as she focused on using her hearing to keep track of the other preteen. The boy in question stared at her.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" she hissed, placing her hands on the bark to regain her balance.

"Ah. My name is Haku, and yours?" the (boy? her sense of smell said boy) asked her in return.

"Naruko. Why are you here?" Naruko wanted to stay the interrogator in this conversation.

Haku gestured at his fistful of herbs, and Naruko felt a bit idiotic. She should've noticed that.

"And why were you gathering herbs?" she asked, not certain why this guy needed plants usually used in healing extensive injuries. And then, because it would have eventually, it clicked.

This preteen- probably younger than she was- was the fake hunter-nin that had grabbed Zabuza.

Naruko immediately put a big, dumb smile on as she continued to study the other ninja.

 _'Come on, little fishy. I don't bite. You can trust me,'_ she thought, grinning wider.

She wasn't aware if the guy had noticed her foray into dumber questions, or the way that she seemed to boast too much. In reality, she was giving herself the front she needed to assess him.

She guessed not, as the other kid said something about fighting for precious people rather than glory. She understood that, really, and hadn't needed a contextual demonstration, but...

At least she hadn't blown her cover and shown the guy what her actual play was.

That was a start, she supposed. She would need to work on her interrogation techniques later.

* * *

Haku kept a nervous eye on the clear genin walking away from him. Or maybe she wasn't a genin, but some demonic hell beast that looked like a child that Konoha was adding to its ninja force. Or maybe Konoha was training their kids earlier than they said they were, because...

Something was off about this brat and he didn't really know what.

She seemed to be smart as a whip when he'd accidentally woken her up (he would need to be quieter later on), but had almost immediately seemed to do a personality switch.

If he hadn't been used to Zabuza's drugged-up-on-meds mood swings at the moment, he wouldn't have noticed the change in temperament. However, he _was_ used to Zabuza's mood swings, which meant he had noted the switch from calm, collected, and sharp to dull and scatterbrained.

For lack of a better word, the girl's sudden switch scared the ever-loving crap out of him.

The change had probably been intentional, and that kind of control meant someone he didn't really want to get on the bad side of. There was always a reason someone needed self-control.

The scariest out of all of those things (which were already frightening prospects on their own) was the fact that Haku hadn't noticed anything until he'd already disclosed way too much... and her personality did another 180, with too little time for him to backtrack and muddle her info.

How could he have been so stupid? Sure, she was nice, but he wasn't supposed to trust easily!

In reality, he knew what had happened. He knew he'd been lured in with the idea of an easy information grab, and this... Naruko... had exploited his laziness in that regard.

He wasn't going to tell his master about this. While he had let slip a few minor things, and she could have easily recognized him despite the hunter-nin guise (he suspected she'd figure it out eventually), he hadn't fucked up monumentally enough that it should interfere with his master's care. They still had a decent chance of getting out of this alive, so he would just... keep quiet.

* * *

Naruko grinned as she walked through the forest, a bounce in her step.

She frowned when she realized that she was supposed to still be practicing tree walking.

Well, not technically _supposed to._ Kakashi hadn't technically requested her to continue- the Jounin had simply implied it. She could always do it now, she supposed.

 _'Ok. So, put one foot in front of the other, and reign it all back, Naru,'_ she thought, placing her foot solidly on the tree, before taking it off. Naruko shook her head, and stepped forwards.

 _'Let's try to test what the tree's chakra is first, why don't we? This conifer is clearly several hundred years old, and it_ is _a living being. At the very least, I should respect what it is before I blast off several years of its lifespan,'_ she thought, pressing her hand against the bark.

She felt the tree hum underneath her fingers, the pulsing lifeblood seeming to have a mind of its own. The tree in question probably did, considering it looked at least five hundred years old.

"What are you doing?" Naruko winced at the harsh tone, dropping her hand from the tree bark. She turned to face Sasuke, who had a rather annoyed expression on his face for some reason that Naruko was not privy to. The blonde sighed, pulling into herself as she followed him.

Oh, of course. He wanted them to train together so that he could try to show off.

* * *

Naruko walked up to another tree, this one far smaller than the first one. It was closer to the clearing, and as such could not access the same protections that being surrounded by smaller trees allowed. She put her hand to the trunk, and wondered why she was paying so much attention to the possible thoughts and feelings of a tree. She should have probably read less Lord of the Rings.

It was younger, certainly, and felt less... alive than the first one had. Of course, it wasn't the same type of tree- Naruko found herself missing the massive giant sequoia, which was probably the largest tree in the forest. She took her hand away, before rapping on the trunk with her knuckles, hearing the comforting noise of a solid trunk. Good. It would support her chakra.

She put her right foot forward, placing it firmly on the trunk. She pulled her chakra in as much as possible, feeling the tree's surging to meet it. A loud sound reverberated through the trees.

Naruko turned her head to see Sasuke on the ground, rubbing his head, before the other ninja hopped to his feet and began to try again. Naruko snorted, pulling her left foot up onto the tree.

This time, both feet stuck. Naruko grinned, and continued, focusing on keeping the right amount of chakra in her feet. The nearest branch was almost in reach when she heard another noise to her left. Naruko yelped, falling backwards as she lost her concentration. She glared at Sasuke.

It didn't seem right to be mad at him, however, as he'd clearly accidentally created a fireball, although he obviously didn't realize how he'd done it. Naruko wanted to laugh, but instead simply got herself up off the ground, dusted herself off, and placed her foot on the tree trunk again.

She made a promise to herself this time, before putting her other foot up, that she would ignore all noises in the general vicinity of Sasuke unless they involved screaming or muffled shouting.

Once that decision had been made, it was actually rather simple to just not bother with really listening to anything. She relied on her sense of touch to tell her what was going on with the tree, and she could simply look around if she needed to be completely sure in her relative safety.

At this point, she was making her way to nearly the top of the tree before getting distracted by a squirrel or a bird. Usually, when that happened, she would falter, which resulted in a restart.

Naruko had seen the hollow with the owl's nest right when the branches began roughly twenty times. For the first three, it had been what had caught her attention, as there were several young owlets within. This time, Naruko kept going, placing her foot on the fifth branch as she began walking upside down. The blood rushed to her head, making her feel weird, but...

It was hard to notice a woozy feeling when everything looked so, so wrong.

She looked over- now to her right- at Sasuke, who had almost reached the top, and grinned.

It was a simple matter to detach herself at that point- all it took was cutting off the chakra to her feet. Naruko managed to flip over, landing safely without, thankfully, much rolling.

* * *

Vulpecula Frostwind was not pleased with what she had seen over the last few hours.

The first thing, of course, was the most obvious, as it had been clear for weeks that neither of Naruko's teammates cared much about her. The second was slightly less obvious, as it was the fact that, despite all of his airs, Naruko's sensei cared far less about he than he should have.

Vex turned a slightly proud eye to Naruko's successful mastery of the tree walking exercise, noting that a skill like hands-free climbing would probably become useful later.

Another young woman- a Saber-Rider class by the name of Alexandria- appeared beside her.

"Have you _seen_ the conditions here?" she hissed viciously. Vex nodded. That was third- the suffering of the people. Vex had seen it before, in planets ravaged by the Empire

"What was your plan for how to go about this?" Vex hummed, fixing her eyes on the other.

"Isn't it obvious?" Alexandria laughed, "If she stays, they will never treat her well. If we do this, we can retrieve both later on, and possibly even a third. I have already discussed it with the Jacobis."

Vex's sharp fangs were visible this time when her smile broadened.

"Very well, then."

* * *

 **Sorry for Haku being a bit OOC, but... here's how I intended it to go: Haku doesn't want to tell Zabuza b/c it will interfere with his healing.**

 **Alex and Vex are easy to bounce off of one another, as they're both quite easily angered and have protective streaks that are miles wide.**


End file.
